Control Theories
Informal Social Control
Assumptions about human nature
• Humans are hedonistic, self-serving beings
• We are “inclined” towards deviance from birth
– “natural motivation”
– no “positive” motivation required
– “variation in motivations toward deviance”
• Is this different from Differential Association/Social
Learning?
– Sutherland: All crime is learned, not invented
If we are inclined toward
deviance...
• Key Question: Why aren’t most of us deviant?
– Hirschi: “There is much evidence that we would be if
we dared.”
• Answer: Informal Social Control
Are control theories “different?”
• Akers
– They don’t try to explain “non-crime” or
conformity
– Different sides of the same coin
• Control Theorists
– Completely different assumptions about human
nature and “motivation” towards crime
Ivan Nye (1958)
• Identified 3 types of informal control
1. Direct Controls
2. Indirect Controls
3. Internal Controls
Walter Reckless: Containment Theory
Inner
Containment
(Good self concept)
Outer Containment
•parents/school
•supervision
Pushes and Pulls
• poverty, anger,delinquent
subculture
DELINQUENCY OUT HERE !!!!!!
Enter Travis Hirschi
Social Bond Theory
Social Bond Theory
• Causes of Delinquency (1969)
– Was an attack on other theories as much as a
statement of his theory
– Self-report data (CA high schools)
– Measures from “competing theories”
• This book was the first of its kind!
Hirschi’s Criticisms of Past Theory
1. A “pure” control theory needs no or external
“motivation” to explain crime.
– Exclude “pushes and pulls” from control theory
– Other theories present an “over-socialized” human
2. Internal control is too “subjective” and nearly
impossible to measure.
– Exclude “conscience, self-concept, or self-control”
– Subsumed under “Attachment”
Social Bond Theory
• “Bond” indicates “Indirect Control”
– Direct controls (punishment, reinforcement) less
important because delinquency occurs when out of
parents’ reach (adolescence).
• Attachment
• Commitment
• Involvement
• Belief
(Elements of the social bond
are all related to each other)
Or, Put Another Way…
The Social
Bond
Attachment
Commitment
Involvement
Belief
Crime
Fun, thrilling,
quick and easy
satisfaction of
desires
Attachment
• The “emotional bond”
• Sensitivity towards others (especially
parents)
– Measured as
• Identification with and emulation of parents
• Concern with teacher’s opinion of oneself
Commitment
• The “rational bond”
– One’s “stake in conformity”
– Social Capital
– Measures:
•
•
•
•
academic achievement
grades
test scores
educational aspirations
Involvement
• “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop”
• Involvement in conventional activity
– Simply less time for deviance
– Measures:
• time playing basketball, baby-sitting, doing
homework….
Belief
• Belief in the validity of the law
– Hold values consistent with the law
– Measures
• Neutralizations (from Sykes/Matza)
• Belief in the value of education
• Respect for police and the law
How can “neutralizations” support both
social learning theory and control theory?
Neutralizations as a “Pirate” variable
1. Sutherland/Akers: “definitions” that motivate
delinquency
2. Hirschi: indicator of weak moral beliefs
3. Bandura: disengagement of cognitive selfevaluation (can be negative reinforcement)
Research on Bonds
• Hirschi’s own research supportive
– But, couldn’t explain delinquent peers
• So, “birds of a feather” explanation
• Subsequent research
– Attachment, commitment, beliefs are related
• Relationships are moderate to weak
• Causal ordering?
Delinquent Peers and Parents
• Hirschi: Any bonding insulates a person
from delinquency
– Even if the person you bond to is delinquent
• Akers: Bonding to delinquent persons
increases delinquency
• Who’s right? AKERS
Sampson and Laub’s “Age Graded
Theory of Informal Social Control”
• Note: We will cover this again in the
“lifecourse” theory section
• Takes Hirschi’s (1969) theory and made it
“age graded”
• The specific elements of the social bond change
over the life-course
• Also includes elements of “direct control”
• Also throws in some other stuff (integrated theory)
Sampson and Laub
Childhood
Context
Individual
Differences
Adolescence
Parenting
• Supervision
• Discipline
Social Bonds
• Family
• School
Delinquent Peers
Delinquency
Length of
Incarceration
Adulthood
Adult Crime
Social Bonds
•Marriage
•Good Job